Seasonal Shifts - My WordPress

To the Ones Still Working This Week: Holidays in Hospitality

by Chris Mallon | Dec 17, 2025 | Industry Insights, Behind the Bar, Seasonal Shifts

To the Ones Still Working This Week I used to be the one sprinting into the driveway five minutes before dinner, the scent of fryer oil clinging to me like regret, gifts unwrapped, still smelling, not surprisingly, like the weed that I probably shouldn’t have smoked...

The Myth of the Holiday Bonus (and 100 Other Festive Lies I’ve Survived)

by Chris Mallon | Dec 10, 2025 | Industry Insights, Culture & Critique, Seasonal Shifts

The Myth of the Holiday Bonus Let’s get one thing straight: I have never once, in 26 years in hospitality, received a holiday bonus that looked anything like what you see in the movies. No envelopes discreetly slid across desks. No end-of-year checks. No warm speeches...

The Ghosts of Christmas Shift: Why Popup Bars Are Haunting the Industry

by Chris Mallon | Dec 4, 2025 | Industry Insights, Behind the Bar, Seasonal Shifts

The Ghosts of Pop-Up Bars Past, Present, and Never Again It’s that time of year again, where the lights twinkle, the guests jingle, and almost every bartender you know is hanging on by a tinsel-thin thread.Holiday pop-ups are back. If you’ve worked one, you already...

Gravy Doesn’t Fix Grief: What the Holidays Feel Like Behind the Bar

by Chris Mallon | Nov 26, 2025 | Industry Insights, Advocacy, Seasonal Shifts

Gravy Doesn’t Fix Grief What the Holidays Feel Like Behind the Bar There’s a lie that gets whispered around the industry this time of year, tucked between reheated mashed potatoes and that extra bottle of whiskey hidden under the service bar: “Just get through the...

The Masks We Wear: Emotional Labor of Hospitality and Holidays

by Chris Mallon | Oct 30, 2025 | Industry Insights, Culture & Critique, Seasonal Shifts

The Masks We Wear A Halloween Reflection for the Industry That Lives in Costume You don’t need Halloween to know what it feels like to wear a mask. Ours aren’t rubber or plastic.They don’t come with strings or eyeholes.Ours are made of “I’m fine,”...

The Pumpkin Patch Is a Lie: Fall Isn’t Cozy Behind the Bar

by Chris Mallon | Oct 7, 2025 | Industry Insights, Culture & Critique, Seasonal Shifts

The Pumpkin Patch Is a Lie: Fall Isn’t Cozy Behind the Bar There’s a moment every fall, and it started back in September. Back when the first guest walks in wearing a flannel shirt and announces to no one in particular that “fall is finally here.” They order a...